Just do it...

A few nights ago, on twitter, was quite an interesting one for me. Some of my former students joined the band wagon of trending topics and it was fun having them tweet about some of the things that happened way back when they were in secondary school. How I had sent them to the principal and gotten them flogged (no point sparing the rod if it would do them good), pinched them (my favourite punishment), and how I was their best teacher (just hope it was not ‘psyks’).

I haven’t seen a lot of them in 5 years and haven’t spoken to a large number of that lot in almost as long. Yet it was gratifying to have them air their thoughts of way back, especially since there was nothing I could do to them now that they were no longer my students, the majority of them being third and fourth year students in their different universities. What can one do to ‘young adult’s when they decide to go ‘freestyle’ and drop all manners of bombs? Nothing I can guarantee you.

And such is life. How many lives do we touch along our journey through this life? Do we make ourselves an effect change agent by living in such a way that when people look up to us they long for the best in life?

I was speaking to one of them about a month ago, and he was really excited, as I was, shouting over and over that the reason he was studying physics in the university was because of me. Another had told me earlier that he was studying Computer Engineering because of me. Well as exciting as that would sound, and yes it really is exciting, nothing compares to the fact that years after we had parted ways, we can still see each other and accord each other the respect that is mutual and real!

Why do I say these things? Maybe because now I know that how well we relate with people that we are responsible for would to some extent affect their perception towards life is. Not that we are responsible for all their choices, but we have the responsibility to help them see all the options and encourage them to make the right choice, again and again.

As someone rightly pointed out if death is as glaring as it is according to the scripture ‘I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life.....’ (Paraphrased), asking us to choose life would be an unnecessary use of the word. It therefore goes to show how we must keep iterating what we believe is true and hold on to, to them as much and as long as we can.

The fear of being seen as unreasonable will eventually give way to a heart of appreciation. As one of them wrote ‘me and @sheyhunsays were never friends’, would eventually give way to you still being someone that would be described ‘as the ‘bestest’ friend and teacher’ by another, several years down the line.

We would all keep making mistakes along the way; how many of those coming after us benefit from it and are able to build the next level of their lives without re-inventing the wheel, is worth considering.

@sheyhunsays – my twitter handle.

Twitter – a social networking site